Acoustic Spectrum of Alpha Centauri A

This chart represents the spectrum of acoustic modes, as observed in Alpha Cen A with the CORALIE spectrograph on the 1.2-m Swiss telescope at the ESO La Silla observatory. Several "eigenmodes" appear as high peaks in the frequency interval between 1.7 and 3 mHz; they correspond to oscillation periods in the range from 5 to 10 min. A very similar pattern is observed in the Sun.